Bills are coming off a big win against KC were they put up 41 points, behind 4 Ryan Fitzpatrick TD's and a career game for Scott Chandler at TE with 2 TD's and 63 yards.

They mixed a balanced attack of run and pass, with Fred Jackson picking up over 100 on the ground and Spiller adding a late TD. Combined, the team went for 163 yards against KC.

Johnson and Nelson led them in receiving with 66 yards a piece on 4 catches. Johnson adding a spectacular catch for an early TD.

Special teams forced a turnover on the opening kick to set the tempo for the game. Lindell added 2 FGs in an otherwise ho hum ST's day.

On defense, the Bills forced an early fumble in Chiefs territory which led to a FG and recorded 2 sacks and 9 tackles for a loss, getting the better of the KC front.

They picked of Cassel once inside Chiefs territory that led to a final TD and a score of 41 to 7.

What we learned:

It's easy to look at the box score and say WOW, Bills put up 41 points, they must be much improved and they are to some extent. But looking at the game, the Chiefs made it easy on them.

McCluster fumbled the opening kickoff and the Bills gained early momentum. The Chiefs continued to force the issue with the pass, instead of establishing the run and it forced a lot of early 3 and outs which Buffalo capitalized on.

Berry, the pro bowl safety for KC went down early and they had no answer behind him. You look at the stats, Fitzpatrick had only 204 yards passing, and 4 TDs. They came easy as coverage was broken on all levels by the KC defense.

KC defense didn't get a good push on the Dline which led to 163 rushing yards from Buffalo. This led to an imbalance for the Chiefs on defense that exposed them to big passing plays.

Why we like the Raiders:

The Chiefs abandoned the run early and never truly sought to establish it. Charles when given the chances, produced a 5.6 YPC average and he and McCluster had a 20+ yard run.

Darren McFadden had 150 against Denver and Hue Jackson understands the key to this offense is establishing the run.

Matt Cassel had a paltry 3.3 average in the passing game despite completing 22 passes. He didn't take shots deep and showed his colors by checking down consistently on 3rd and short.

Jackson will amp up the passing game as needed and the Raiders can stretch a defense. I don't see the Bills as overly talented on the back end. They will have chances to hit one deep. The matchup nightmare for Buffalo will be against Reece who the Raiders love to get the ball too.

KC was flat, uninspired and taken out of the game early with key fumbles. Hali seemed the only player on defense putting in work as the others went through the motions.

The Raiders by contrast are high motor upfront and consistently push and fight in the trenches to get to the QB or stop a RB in the backfield.

Finally, KC had 7 kick returns Sunday. The Raiders have the luxury of Jacoby Ford who is among the best in the business if healthy. Opportunities are their for the ST's to make a play.

Why we like the Bills:

Fitzpatrick showed he has control of the offense, spreading the ball around to different WRs and his TE Chandler.

They established a running game and put up 163 yards by the final whistle. Jackson is a workhorse and will grind out yards.

Denver did not establish a run and got away from it early. Will Buffalo?

Their defense is improved and showed they can rattle a QB in Cassel. Will that continue or can Oakland catch them off guard with some big runs to keep them honesty unlike KC?

Finally, the X Factor. The Raiders played Monday Night Football on a later schedule than normal. They now have a short week of practice to prepare for the Bills. If that wasn't already a difficult task, they travel to the east coast where they have been miserable at finding ways to win. It has the makings of a trap game for the team. What will Jackson have in store for them at practice to adjust?

Keys to an Oakland win

-Establish the run and set up the play action offense.
-Take deep shots against a suspect secondary
-Stop the run on defense and force Fitzpatrick into mistakes
-Capitalize on kick returns as Lindell leaves the short
-Take the crowd out early with a score and then play solid defense

I'm not feeling too great about this game. Not only did the Bills play extremely well at Arrowhead, but the Raiders are traveling across the country for an early game on a short week. It's really pretty messed up scheduling when you think about it.

Hopefully Hue is on the case and has the team adjusting for the early start, and I really hope that the air conditions and the late start is what caused the Raiders to play so badly. If so, that could be some good motivation to play even harder against the Bills to prove they aren't as bad as they looked.

I'll be watching some of the Bills game soon to see how well they really played, but how well do you guys think the Raiders match up?

Injuries could be a factor. I think the Bills stayed healthy, no? I wonder if Mitchell, Boss, Ausberry, Hagan or Murphy will be back. Also Huff has a hammy issue that will be disclosed wed._________________Bah-Weep-Granah-Weep-Nini-Bong
My short-term memory is not as sharp as it used to be.
Also, my short-term memory is not as sharp as it used to be.

Last edited by NickButera on Tue Sep 13, 2011 6:20 pm; edited 1 time in total

The East Coast travel is always a worry especially on a short week. Hopefully the offense comes out like it did against Jacksonville last season. Only difference will be the defense holding down when we're up.

The AFC West has never been known to shut down Tight Ends. We might be the best in division though. DLine needs to be consistent as always._________________

SaveourSonics wrote:

Yea, RaiderX wins. We can all just top acting like this is a matter of opinion. MY GOD.

I like the matchup for both sides. It comes down to run offence for the Raiders against the Bills Pass offence. McFadden looked Adrian Peterson good but it was hard to judge when the Broncos are still one of the worst teams against the run (dead last for yards per carry allowed last season). I am not looking too much into the Chiefs game either because the play calling was terrible from KC and it was as much KC being terrible as the Bills dominating. Both opening weekends could be really miss leadings in evaluating how good the teams are.

The Raiders front 7 looks scary good blitz coming from all angles. Buffalo line is improving but is still going to struggle to top blitzing defences. The Raiders pass offence doesn't look to dangerous. Explosive but unreliable from what i have seen on their given day could be a liability or the corner stone of a dangerous offence. Kyle Williams all pro last season can't be underestimated he can do some damage to an inexperienced line. Oakland are also going to get called out by refs a lot that can only work to Buffalo's favour.

Bookies have the Bills as +4 favourites. With Oakland travelling East on a short week it seems fair odds._________________Adopt a Bill 2011: Jarius Byrd

Just finished watching the first 3 quarters of the Bills and Chiefs. This is going to be a good game, but the Chiefs really just handed the game over to the Bills. Their defense already gave up in the 2nd quarter, and they were pretty terrible in the 1st. Their D-Line barely got any push on the pass rush, consistently only rushing three, though the Bills did constantly run 4 receiver sets. The Bills O-Line destroyed the Chiefs, someone was pancaked on almost every rushing play, and there was almost no penetration. This could mean the Bills O-Line is really superb, or the Chiefs D-Line made them look superb. I'll take the latter. The Bills pass offense looked like a well oiled machine, they constantly ran big WR sets and got the ball out fast. The Chiefs played off coverage, which allowed Fitz to completely dissect them, I had flashbacks to DeAngelo Hall on MNF against the Broncs, where the poor Raiders D made Cutler look like an All Pro, and Royal a future HOF.

The Raiders can win this game. They need to pound the rock early, and if they can sustain long demoralizing drives, this game is theirs to win. If they fall behind early, it could end up being a long game. I don't think Jackson will put the game on Campbell's shoulders, but they need to get ahead early. The Bills run D didn't impress me, Kyle Williams against Wiz will be a great test, but the rest of the D-Line didn't leave much of an impression. I'm looking for some big, tight, offensive sets to power rush down the Bills throat. McFadden could have a field day here, the Bills LBs over pursued quite a few times, and McFadden has the skill set to make them pay.

Whoever scores the first TD wins this game. This could shape up into a great game, or it could turn out ugly, it all depends on how the 1st quarter plays out.

Early prediction, Seabass wins this game for the Raiders. Oakland 26 Buffalo 24

This "shorter week" talk is vastly overrated. It's only 1 day less than everyone else. If you're a bully, you can't use that as an excuse.

We need to start the game off strong. No fancy trick plays at the beginning. Get DMC/Bush the ball early and try to get the passing game going. Play smart, meaning NO PENALTIES.

Defensive line needs to continue their strong physical play up front. I'm more worried about the secondary than anything else.

All these Bills fans are getting cocky after ONE GAME against a sub par KC team.

Don't think it's over-rated. No idea on the logistics as I ain't a yank so don't know the country/distacnes but would the guys have finished late monday then had a late night trip back to Oakland which takes how long? Chances are the players didn't get to bed til late on Monday night/early hours of tuesday morning._________________

This "shorter week" talk is vastly overrated. It's only 1 day less than everyone else. If you're a bully, you can't use that as an excuse.

We need to start the game off strong. No fancy trick plays at the beginning. Get DMC/Bush the ball early and try to get the passing game going. Play smart, meaning NO PENALTIES.

Defensive line needs to continue their strong physical play up front. I'm more worried about the secondary than anything else.

All these Bills fans are getting cocky after ONE GAME against a sub par KC team.

Don't think it's over-rated. No idea on the logistics as I ain't a yank so don't know the country/distacnes but would the guys have finished late monday then had a late night trip back to Oakland which takes how long? Chances are the players didn't get to bed til late on Monday night/early hours of tuesday morning.

I would assume they spend the night in Denver and catch a flight the next morning, could be completely wrong though and they fly out that night. Does anyone know if the team stays or flies back the same night?